Downtown Seattle and Mt. Ranier from Seattle Center

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Downtown Seattle and Mt. Ranier from Seattle Center

Shake Shack Las Vegas

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Shake Shack Las Vegas

Giant Burgers

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Giant Burgers

Take a Ride on the Cotton Belt

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Take a Ride on the Cotton Belt

Found Photograph

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Found Photograph

Slashdot

News for nerds, stuff that matters

Amazon Delivery Drone Crashes into Texas Apartment Building

"You can hear the hum of the drone," says a local newscaster, "but then the propellors come into contact with the building, chunks of the drone later seen falling down. The next video shows the drone on the ground, surrounded by smoke...
"Amazon tells us there was minimal damage to the apartment building, adding they are working with the appropriate people to handle any repairs." But there were people standing outside, notes the woman who filmed the crash, and the falling drone "could've hit them, and they would've hurt."

More from USA Today:

Cesarina Johnson, who captured the collision from her window, told USA TODAY that the collision seemed to happen "almost immediately" after she began to record the drone in action... "The propellers on the thing were still moving, and you could smell it was starting to burn," Johnson told Fox 4 News. "And you see a few sparks in one of my videos. Luckily, nothing really caught on fire where it got, it escalated really crazy." According to the outlet, firefighters were called out of an abundance of caution, but the "drone never caught fire...."

Amazon employees can be seen surveying the scene in the clip. Johnson told the outlet that firefighters and Amazon workers worked together to clean up before the drone was loaded into a truck.

Another local news report points out Amazon only began drone delivery in the area late last year.

The San Antonio Express News points out that America's Federal Aviation Administration "opened an investigation into Amazon's drone delivery program in November after one of its drone struck an Internet cable line in Waco."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Do Super Bowl Ads For AI Signal a Bubble About to Burst?

It's the first "AI" Super Bowl, argues the tech/business writer at Slate, with AI company advertisements taking center stage, even while consumers insist to surveyors that they're "mostly negative" about AI-generated ads.

Last year AI companies spent over $1.7 billion on AI-related ads, notes the Washington Post, adding the blitz this year will be "inescapable" — even while surveys show Americans "doubt the technology is good for them or the world..."

Slate wonders if that means history will repeat itself...

The sheer saturation of new A.I. gambits, added to the mismatch with consumer priorities, gives this year's NFL showcase the sector-specific recession-indicator vibes that have defined Super Bowls of the past. 2022 was a pride-cometh-before-the-fall event for the cryptocurrency bubble, which collapsed in such spectacular fashion later that year — thanks largely to Super Bowl ad client Sam Bankman-Fried — that none of its major brands have ever returned to the broadcast. (... the coins themselves are once again crashing, hard.) Mortgage lender Ameriquest was as conspicuous a presence in the mid-2000s Super Bowls as it was an absence in the later aughts, having folded in 2007 when the risky subprime loans it specialized in helped kick off the financial crisis. And then there were all those bowl-game commercials for websites like Pets.com and Computer.com in 2000, when the dot-com rush brought attention to a slew of digital startups that went bust with the bubble.

Does this Super Bowl's record-breaking A.I. ad splurge also portend a coming pop? Look at the business environment: The biggest names in the industry are swapping unimaginable stacks of cash exclusively with one another. One firm's stock price depends on another firm's projections, which depend on another contractor's successes. Necessary infrastructure is meeting resistance, and all-around investment in these projects is riskier than ever. And yet, the sector is still willing to break the bank for the Super Bowl — even though, time and again, we've already seen how this particular game plays out.

People are using AI apps. And Meta has aired an ad where a man in rural New Mexico "says he landed a good job in his hometown at a Meta data center," notes the Washington Post. "It's interspersed with scenes from a rodeo and other folksy tropes, in one of . The TV commercial (and a similar one set in Iowa), aired in Washington, D.C., and a handful of other communities, suggesting it's aimed at convincing U.S. elected officials that AI brings job opportunities.

But the Post argues the AI industry "is selling a vision of the future that Americans don't like." And they offer cite Allen Adamson, a brand strategist and co-founder of marketing firm Metaforce, who says the perennial question about advertising is whether it can fix bad vibes about a product.

"The answer since the dawn of marketing and advertising is no."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The Register

Biting the hand that feeds IT — Enterprise Technology News and Analysis

Linus Torvalds keeps his ‘fingers and toes’ rule by decreeing next Linux will be version 7.0

But first, kernel 6.19 is upon us, with many goodies

Penguin emperor Linus Torvalds has announced the next version of the Linux kernel will be version 7.0, a matter of some small interest, because it continues his convention of not using version numbers he can’t count on his fingers and toes, and perhaps cements a numbering convention that sees kernel series end with version 19.…

Busy day at the beach.

mckenart has added a photo to the pool:

Busy day at the beach.

I love the light on the beach in the late afternoon sun. Broadbeach, Gold Coast, Queensland.

Seat with a View

Stueyman has added a photo to the pool:

Seat with a View

Coodanup foreshore, WA

Pink

Stueyman has added a photo to the pool:

Pink

Pink lake at Coodanup foreshore, WA

The Guardian

Latest news, sport, business, comment, analysis and reviews from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal voice

Isaac Herzog arrives in Sydney to meet survivors of Bondi terror attack amid tight security

Israeli president will meet with prime minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra and travel to Melbourne as pro-Palestine supporters stage protests

Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, has arrived in Sydney for a four-day trip to Australia to speak to survivors of the Bondi terror attack and the victims’ families.

In a post on X, the Israeli embassy said Herzog and his wife, Michal Herzog, were met by Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, after their plane touched down in Sydney on Monday. “Welcome to Australia, President Isaac Herzog!” the embassy said.

Continue reading...

‘Pulling up the drawbridge’: Alf Dubs criticises Shabana Mahmood’s plans for child refugees

Exclusive: Labour peer, who came to UK as a refugee, says some ministers try to show they won’t ‘just do things because of their background’

Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, whose parents migrated to the UK from Pakistan, is facing the suggestion from a veteran Labour peer that she is “pulling up the drawbridge once inside” when considering the plight of refugee children trapped abroad.

Alf Dubs, who came to the UK aged six in 1939 fleeing the persecution of Jews in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, said the home secretary and other ministers had “kowtowed” to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK by preventing unaccompanied children from seeking refuge with UK-based family members.

Continue reading...

‘Take the vaccine, please,’ Dr Oz urges amid rising measles cases in US

Health official’s endorsement comes as South Carolina faces hundreds of cases and US risks losing elimination status

A senior US public health official called on Americans to get vaccinated against measles as outbreaks continue in multiple states and concerns grow that the country could lose its measles elimination designation. Dr Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon, spoke in support on Sunday of the measles vaccine.

“Take the vaccine, please,” said Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. “We have a solution for our problem.”

Continue reading...

The kindness of strangers: my teenage son was on a date at a fancy restaurant when a fellow diner helped pay the bill

She made a special night even more special for these two young people – and gave me something special too

Adolescence leaves its mark on everyone but for my son the marks have been particularly obvious. I’ve lost track of how many casts he’s had. He loves electric bikes and at various times this has led to a broken arm, a broken hand, a broken leg, a wide variety of cuts and grazes, and terrifyingly close calls with much worse.

It also led to him getting a job as a delivery rider for the local Domino’s Pizza, which valued him for his speed (another broken wrist) and his ability to be cheerful in the face of unhinged customers. Once, after getting no answer when he buzzed a flat and phoned, he left a woman’s pizza on her doorstep. She called him “the scum of the earth” and promised he would lose his job and never get another one.

Continue reading...

Wel.nl

Minder lezen, Meer weten.

Ook maandagochtend plaatselijk dichte mist in noordwesten

DE BILT (ANP) - In Noord-Holland en het westelijke Waddengebied komt ook maandagochtend plaatselijk weer dichte mist voor. Zaterdag en zondag gaf het KNMI ook al code geel af voor dichte mist in het midden en noorden van het land. Die waarschuwing blijft voor het noordwesten tot zeker maandagochtend 08.00 uur van kracht.

Bij dichte mist is het zicht minder dan 200 meter. Daardoor zijn de weg en het overige verkeer minder goed zichtbaar, waarschuwt het KNMI. Ook in de rest van het noorden komt mist voor, maar daar zal het zicht niet minder dan 200 meter zijn.


EU-chef Von der Leyen blij met winst Seguro in Portugal

BRUSSEL (ANP) - Voorzitter van de Europese Commissie Ursula von der Leyen is blij met de overwinning van de centrumlinkse presidentskandidaat António José Seguro in Portugal zondag. Op X noemde ze Seguro's winst op de uiterst rechtse kandidaat André Ventura een overwinning voor "gedeelde Europese waarden".

Von der Leyen prees de "democratische volharding" van de Portugezen, die ondanks de stormen die woedden in hun land toch gingen stemmen. Portugal en buurland Spanje hadden dit weekeinde te maken met storm Marta. Eind januari zorgde storm Kristin ook al voor veel problemen. Zeker vijf mensen kwamen om het leven. Er waren overstromingen en honderdduizenden huishoudens kwamen zonder stroom te zitten.

Met 95 procent van de stemmen geteld, haalde Seguro 66 procent. Hij had in de eerste ronde 31,3 procent van de stemmen gehaald. In de tweede ronde, zondag, kreeg hij de steun van conservatieve kiezers om zo een overwinning van Ventura te voorkomen. Deze haalde in de eerste ronde 23,5 procent van de stemmen.


Man gewond geraakt bij steekpartij in Eindhoven

EINDHOVEN (ANP) - Op de Quinten Matsyslaan in Eindhoven heeft zondagavond een steekpartij plaatsgevonden. Daarbij raakte een jongeman gewond aan zijn been. Dat meldt de politie Oost-Brabant op X. Rond 23.40 uur kwam er een melding binnen van de steekpartij.

Het is nog onduidelijk wat er precies is gebeurd, wie de dader is en wat de aanleiding voor de steekpartij was, aldus de politie. Ooggetuigen en mensen die camerabeelden hebben van de omgeving, wordt verzocht contact op te nemen met de politie.


Rotterdam - FediMeteo (@rotterdam@nl.fedimeteo.com)

Weer voor de stad Rotterdam Deze bot wordt beheerd door het FediMeteo-project. Voor informatie en contact kunt u de pagina https://fedimeteo.com raadplegen.

Weer voor Rotterdam 🌫️ Huidige temperatuur ...

Weer voor Rotterdam 🌫️

Huidige temperatuur (om 01:15): 1.9°C (Mist)
Windsnelheid: 12.2 km/u (3.4 m/s), richting: ← 105°

Luchtkwaliteit:
  • AQI: 51 🟡 (Matig)
  • PM2.5: 17.5 μg/m³
  • PM10: 19.9 μg/m³

Voorspelling voor de komende dagen:

  • maandag 09 februari: Min 1.9°, Max 8.1° (Mist) 🌫️, Windsnelheid: 14.8 km/u (4.1 m/s), richting: ↖ 128°
  • dinsdag 10 februari: Min 2.7°, Max 8.0° (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 0.2, Kans op neerslag 23%, Windsnelheid: 16.6 km/u (4.6 m/s), richting: ↖ 144°
  • woensdag 11 februari: Min 7.7°, Max 10.9° (Matige regen) 🌧️, Neerslag 6.2, Kans op neerslag 60%, Windsnelheid: 21.8 km/u (6.1 m/s), richting: ↗ 211°
  • donderdag 12 februari: Min 3.8°, Max 8.6° (Zware motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 6.9, Kans op neerslag 48%, Windsnelheid: 18.7 km/u (5.2 m/s), richting: ↘ 298°
  • vrijdag 13 februari: Min 1.8°, Max 5.8° (Lichte sneeuw) ❄️, Neerslag 1.2, Kans op neerslag 45%, Windsnelheid: 16.0 km/u (4.4 m/s), richting: ↘ 303°
  • zaterdag 14 februari: Min 1.4°, Max 4.6° (Matige sneeuw) ❄️, Neerslag 5.1, Kans op neerslag 38%, Windsnelheid: 17.3 km/u (4.8 m/s), richting: ↘ 316°
  • zondag 15 februari: Min 0.8°, Max 5.6° (Matige sneeuw) ❄️, Neerslag 1.3, Kans op neerslag 20%, Windsnelheid: 25.0 km/u (6.9 m/s), richting: ↗ 212°

Uurlijkse voorspelling voor de komende 12 uur:

  • 02:00: 2.0° (Mist) 🌫️, Windsnelheid: 12.6 km/u (3.5 m/s), richting: ← 104°
  • 03:00: 2.2° (Mist) 🌫️, Windsnelheid: 13.7 km/u (3.8 m/s), richting: ← 108°
  • 04:00: 2.2° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Windsnelheid: 12.2 km/u (3.4 m/s), richting: ← 112°
  • 05:00: 2.2° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Windsnelheid: 12.2 km/u (3.4 m/s), richting: ← 108°
  • 06:00: 2.5° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Windsnelheid: 10.1 km/u (2.8 m/s), richting: ↖ 123°
  • 07:00: 2.5° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Windsnelheid: 10.1 km/u (2.8 m/s), richting: ↖ 122°
  • 08:00: 2.5° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Windsnelheid: 10.8 km/u (3.0 m/s), richting: ↖ 127°
  • 09:00: 2.8° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Windsnelheid: 11.2 km/u (3.1 m/s), richting: ↖ 131°
  • 10:00: 3.5° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Windsnelheid: 11.2 km/u (3.1 m/s), richting: ↖ 130°
  • 11:00: 4.2° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Windsnelheid: 11.9 km/u (3.3 m/s), richting: ↖ 116°
  • 12:00: 5.0° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Windsnelheid: 12.6 km/u (3.5 m/s), richting: ↖ 124°
  • 13:00: 6.1° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Windsnelheid: 13.7 km/u (3.8 m/s), richting: ↖ 140°
Gegevens geleverd door Open-Meteo



Lagere aristocratie

Ik faciliteer als consultant soms groepen machtige mensen. Dit keer een groep internationale agrifood-professionals.